Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 2

Click here to read Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 1

Day 5: The older kids and most of the adults went and drove Go-Karts. Unicorn went with them and after riding in a go-kart she decided she would have had more fun going mini-golf with Monkey, Ladybug, Daddy and me. While Daddy and I were mini-golfing with the little ones we got to watch a helicopter take off and land multiple times nearby. Monkey and Ladybug really enjoyed golfing and watching the helicopter. As we finished up golfing we got to see Papa W and a couple of his grandsons being dare devils!

Monkey golfing

Ladybug golfing

Helicopter tour landing

Watching the helicopter land

Watching Daddy golf

Papa and 2 of his grandsons

Papa and M and J

After this Ladybug says to me "I want to try that"!

Day 6: Most of the family went to Silver Dollar City Amusement Park. Afterwards, there was some swimming, family dinner, family photos, Papa's 75th Birthday Slideshow, Games and Party.

 Day 7: We had one last breakfast with some of the family and headed home. We spent the night in a KOA cabin in Elk City, Oklahoma. We had chicken and cheese tortillas and made Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler.

Day 8: We got up and got going and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast around 10 am. We saw some smoke around Albuquerque from one of the fires in the state. We pulled into the Grants, New Mexico KOA campground around 3 pm. It was pretty hot and windy. We put up the tent and then headed into town to find a resturant with some air conditioning. We pulled into a Denny's only to find out that their A/C was out. We ate dinner quickly and headed to the Wal-Mart next door to get ice and cool off a little. The A/C at the Wal-Mart was barely working so we got the ice and went back to the campground. We took a family vote and decided that since we were only 6 and 1/2 hours from home that we would pack up the tent and just drive on home.

Smoke just outside of Albuquerque

1st attempt of the kids and all the stuff

2nd attempt (after I told them to at least pretend like they were having fun)

Day 9: We pulled in our driveway at 12:30 am. We unloaded the kids and the cooler. I put the kids to bed and Daddy unpacked the cooler. We brought everything in from the car and dumped it in the living room and went to bed. We woke up at 7:30 and unpacked and put everything away. Other than the laundry we were finished by 10 am. My mom brought the puppies home around noon and we were back to our normal lives.

Now I just need a vacation from my vacation!

Coming Soon: Our Dutch Oven Adventures

Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 1

We have recently returned home from a 9-day vacation. We slept in a teepee, a tent, a cabin and a resort! It was a long, fun trip!

Day 0: In order to make our trip as inexpensive and easy as possible we spent a day preparing food and packing. Before it got too hot, Hubby and the kids washed the car. Then we prepared breakfast burritos, egg sandwiches, chicken macaroni salad, pasta salad, granola, and cooked the sloppy joe meat. We also gave our puppies baths.

Washing the car

Getting the food ready

Macaroni Salad, breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches

Day 1: We filled the cooler up with food, packed up the car and pulled out of the driveway at 8 am! We dropped our little puppies off at my sister and brother-in-laws house as they were going to puppysit 6 1/2 of the days (my mom took them for the last couple days). Then we left Phoenix and headed to Four Corners. For lunch we had chicken macaroni salad at a little picnic area. We got to Four Corners 15 minutes before they closed!

Unicorn @ Four Corners

Ladybug @ Four Corners

Monkey @ Four Corners

Monkey in Utah, Ladybug in Arizona, Unicorn in Colorado and Mom and Dad in New Mexico

After Four Corners, we headed to Cortez, Colorado. Here we stayed at the KOA and slept in a Teepee! We made Sloppy Joe's in the Dutch Oven and made S'mores for dessert.

Dutch Oven Sloppy Joes

The Teepee we slept in

Day 2: For breakfast we had Breakfast Burritos that we had pre-made at home and froze. We used the KOA microwave to reheat them (you could also warm them over charcoal or a fire if you have time). Then we packed up and went to Mesa Verde National Park. Here we saw some cliff dwellings and the kids became Junior Rangers.

Breakfast Burritos

Cliff Dwellings

Heading out to see the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings

A Ranger let her wear his Ranger hat

Ladybug climbing down into a Kiva

Monkey climbing down into the Kiva

Monkey, Ladybug and Unicorn in the Kiva

Cliff Dwellings

Junior Rangers!

After the Park we drove to Tucumcari, New Mexico and stayed at the KOA in our tent. For lunch we had some of our pasta salad and hard boiled eggs. Because of New Mexico's fires and the wind we were unable to have a fire so we had left over chicken macaroni salad.

Campground playground while daddy puts up the tents

Campground playground while daddy puts up the tents

Day 3: I was awoken, very rudely, by the wind pushing the tent sides into my face at 4 am. There was NO way we were going to sleep through the rest of the wind storm so we threw the kids and our stuff in the car and Hubby and I managed to get the tents down and packed up before they blew away! We pulled out of the campground around 5 am. We cheated on breakfast and stopped at a McDonalds. At 8 am I called the KOA we would be staying at and upgraded our tent site to a CABIN! We drove through Texas and most of Oklahoma. We camped at the East Oklahoma City KOA and even had time to swim, do some laundry and teach the kids how to play UNO and Skip-Bo. We had Foil Dinners and Dutch Oven Monkey Bread for dessert.

Playing with his toys

Dutch Oven Monkey Bread

We ate it all!!

Playing UNO

Playing Skip-Bo

Day 4: We didn't have to get moving very quickly this day so we took our time getting up and packing up the car. We had Egg Sandwiches that we had pre-made and frozen at home. We warmed them in the KOA microwave and headed out around 10 am. We avoided the toll roads and headed through Arkansas to Branson, Missouri. For lunch we just snacked on whatever snacks we had in the car (granola, wheat thins, animal crackers, tortillas, etc.). We arrived at the resort around 4 and pulled in right behind a fire truck. The smoke alarms in our building were going off. We found our family in the parking lot. It was a false alarm. The firemen were really nice and let Monkey and Ladybug climb in the fire truck (I didn't get pictures because they were with other family members at the time). Before dinner the kids got a little pool time in with their cousins. Dinner that night was pizza with the family. It was nice to sleep in a real bed and get some nice showers!

Cousin M and Monkey

Ladybug, Unicorn and Cousin M

Click Here for Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 2 
Coming Soon: Our Dutch Oven Adventure